Since You've Been Gone
by SophieWofy
Summary: S6. A video viral around the school gives fresh hope for Karen in the search for her daughter. But what if things were better when she didn't know where Bex was?
1. Chapter 1

"_Oh, just shut up, Mum. I love him, ok, and there's nothing you can do about it."_

"_Isn't there? You're grounded, Bex, and I'm confiscating your laptop and mobile until you see sense. He's no good for you."_

"_Yeah? Well, try confiscating it from me when I'm not here." Bex stormed down the stairs and out of the house, slamming the door behind her._

_Karen sighed and sat down on her daughter's bed. She'd come back later when she had time to cool down. She always did._

**18 months later**

The first day in a new job was never easy, and Karen Fisher's had exceeded all expectations in the way of bad. She'd led the first assembly in trainers, had to rethink her plans to close the cooler and nearly lost her deputy head. Then, of course, there was the matter of Ruth Kirby. The rebellious home-schooled girl hadn't been shy about protesting her disapproval of Waterloo Road, taking it to the extremes of running away.

That had touched too close to home for Karen, and it had taken all her strength to hold it together in front of Chris. She hadn't heard from her eldest daughter Bex in a year and a half, with no idea if she was alive or dead. It was the voiceless phone calls she occasionally received that kept her hope alive.

She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she had spent so much credit simply calling Bex's phone to hear her voice on her answer machine that she had been forced to take up a job. Where better to work, then, than a school, where she could keep an eye on her two other children and simultaneously help others as well.

Jess and Harry had taken their sister's disappearance hard. There was only a year between Bex and Jess, and they had been close from childhood. Jess had rebelled against her parents, staying out all night and drinking, not that Karen let on that she knew about the alcohol. Harry had reacted in the opposite way, withdrawing and becoming reclusive. She'd moved the two to Waterloo Road in the hope that it would change both their behaviours.

The whole family had been affected, and Karen was determined to hold them together. It wasn't right to have favourite children, but it was Harry, as the baby of the family, that worried Karen the most. While Jess would voice her anger and frustration at her parents in the form of arguments, much in the same fashion as Bex, Harry would bottle things up and not speak to anyone for days if he was in a bad mood. Karen desperately wanted to connect with her son, but the risk of alienating her other daughter in the process restricted any movement she wanted to make.

So she was surprised, then, when Harry ventured into Bex's room in the middle of the night. Karen had struggled to sleep, so to avoid waking her husband, Charlie, she had headed into Bex's room to rest. Harry was normally a solid sleeper, so something had to be up if he was awake at three in the morning.

"Mum?" he whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"What's up, darling?" Karen sat up and put an arm around him.

Harry held out his phone, displaying a video which was on pause. "Finn and Josh were talking about this earlier at school. I wanted to see it but then Mr Mead came in so Josh said he'd send it to me later. I watched it before I went to bed. It's horrible. It's Bex, Mum. I know it is. She's alive."

"Go on," Karen breathed. "Play it for me."

Reluctantly, Harry pressed play. A naked blonde girl was lying on a bed, pleasuring a man who could only be seen from the back. The man suddenly bucked up and urinated over the girl's body.

Karen's hand flew to her mouth, and she nearly retched. The girl was undeniably Bex, but what kind of life was she leading now? How had it come that her eldest daughter was featuring in degrading video stunts such as this? Or was it a stunt? The expression on Bex's face was one of horror and disgust, and Karen could never remember her daughter being a good actress.

At least Bex was alive, Karen reminded herself. That was the positive. Now she had a lead to go on, she would take Harry's phone to the police the next day. They might be able to trace Bex's location from the video, and they'd finally be reunited.

"Mum?" Harry whispered again. "Mum, I'm sorry. It's horrible. It's why I couldn't sleep. If I'd known it was Bex when they were talking about it in class I would have stopped them."

Karen hugged him tightly. "Harry. I'm proud of you, you know that?"

Harry smiled briefly. "Does that mean Bex might be coming home again?"

"Maybe. But we've a long way to go yet. I don't want you telling your dad or sister about this, alright? I don't want them getting false hope."

Harry nodded. "Alright."

"Now off you go to bed. We both need our sleep if we're going to find her."


	2. Chapter 2

As with the previous day, Karen offered both her children a lift to school. Jess had declined, as predicted, but Harry had accepted.

"Are you going to show that video to the police?" Harry asked as he strapped himself in to the passenger seat.

Karen nodded. "Will you send it to my phone as well? I'll go there after school and see what they can do."

Harry obliged, and by the time they reached school, the video was on Karen's mobile as well as his own. He joined in with the football kickabout without a second glance at his mother, who was watching the video in the car one more time.

Karen got out of the car and joined Chris and Tom by the entrance.

"Nice shoes," Chris remarked. Karen looked down at her feet, hoping she hadn't made another trainers disaster. She looked up again and at Chris, who was smiling. "Relax. It won't be as bad as yesterday."

Karen forced a smile. "I hope not."

The bell for class rang out and the gathering of students and teachers dispersed into separate classrooms. Karen headed for her office, where Janeece was already sorting out the post.

"There was a phone call for you about five minutes ago from the police. They're going to call you back later. It's probably about that missing girl from yesterday, isn't it? Did they find her?"

"Yes, they did. Thanks, Janeece. I'll be in my office if anything important happens, but don't disturb me unless it is. I've got a lot to sort out."

Closing her office door behind her, Karen sat down and pulled her mobile phone out again. The video repulsed her, but the more she watched it, the more she became hardened to the graphic nature. The more she watched it, too, the closer she felt to Bex. Her daughter was alive, somewhere, and it wasn't long before she was going to bring her home.

Karen's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Sighing, she put her phone in her desk and stood up. "Come in."

Grantly was at the door, with Finn at his side. "I caught this young troublemaker looking at porn on his mobile during my lesson."

"It wasn't porn," Finn insisted.

Karen sighed. "Grantly, I'll take this one from here. You go back to your class."

Grantly obeyed and Karen shut the door behind her.

"Right, Finn. Hand me your phone."

"It's not porn, Miss. It's just this video that's been going round the whole school. It's funny, that's all."

"Show me."

Finn looked at her awkwardly.

"Show me," she repeated.

Finn pressed play. Had someone been seeing it for the first time, they would have been shocked, but this was one viewing of many that day. Karen barely blinked as the short clip played out on the mobile phone.

"Right. Delete that off your phone, now, while I'm watching, and if I find you've got it again there'll be punishment. I don't tolerate inappropriate behaviour or degradation of girls in my school, especially-" Karen broke off and looked up at the ceiling. She'd nearly said too much.

"Especially what?"

"Nothing. Just delete it, then get out of my sight."

Finn did as he was told.

No, Karen thought. This wasn't right. The whole of her school were seeing a video of her naked daughter, and she needed to stop it. She couldn't tell anyone it was Bex, though – she had to put Jess and Harry first, and they'd be humiliated if the whole school knew. It was bad enough for them being the head teacher's kids.

So during assembly, Karen made the announcement.

"It has come to my attention that there is a degrading video circulating via your mobile phones. I'm going to say this once, and only once: delete it. You know what I'm talking about. Any phones that get confiscated from now on will have their videos searched, and if the video in question is on there then the owner of the phone will be in serious trouble. You have break time to remove it."

In the seats, Josh turned to Finn. "Is that because Budgen pulled you out of class? Nice one, mate. The girl was well fit."

"The girl's a prossy."

"Shut up. How do you know? And that doesn't mean she can't be fit."

"The room where it was filmed in? 53 Mayfair Road. My dad knows the guy who runs the place; did some work for him over the summer. Made a mint."

From the row behind, Harry made a mental note of the address. He knew Mayfair Road; it wasn't far from where one of his old school friends had moved to. Now he knew what he was going to do today.

During break he made sure he had everything sorted. He knew his mum wouldn't be happy to find out he'd run out of school, so he faked illness. The nurse had been all too happy to send him home for a migrane, and Karen had given him money for a taxi home before he left. But instead of going home, he headed for Mayfair Road.


	3. Chapter 3

It was a twenty minute ride, and Harry had just about enough money to pay the driver. He'd have to walk back, but that wasn't a problem. He was happy to walk back and spend more time with his sister, if she really was here. It all seemed too good to be true, but he wasn't going to give up hope now.

Number 53 was a large house that didn't look exceptionally different to any others on the street. He pulled off his school tie and jumper and stuffed them into his bag before loosening his collar. He didn't want to seem like the baby-faced schoolboy he really was.

Harry knocked at the door and waited anxiously for a reply. A suited man answered.

"I'm, er, looking for my dad," he lied. "The bailiffs are at our house. I need to warn him before he goes home."

The man looked at him suspiciously. "How do you know your dad's here?"

"I don't. I saw him go in the other week when I was on the bus going past. He said this is one of his customers, and I don't know any other customers' houses, so I gambled on him being here." Harry was surprised how easily he could lie.

The man folded his arms. "What's your dad's name?"

"Charlie."

"Charlie what?"

Harry didn't want to give his real surname, so he said the first name that came into his head. "Budgen." Then he hoped there wasn't anyone in there by that name, else there could be problems.

"Wait there a minute, young man. I'll check if your dad's in there." Shutting the door too, the man left Harry standing on the step.

Harry seized the opportunity and charged into the building. "Bex!" he shouted. "Bex, where are you?"

"Hey." A burly man grabbed Harry and dragged him outside. "What the hell are you playing at? You should be in school. Get out of here and stay out."

"My dad's in there!"

"Your dad's called Bex?"

Harry felt his face redden up. "Er. It's a nickname."

"Sure it is. Now you get yourself back to school. There's nothing in here for you. You're what, twelve?"

"Fourteen."

"Even so. I should call the cops on you, but it's my birthday and I'm in a good mood, so if you get back to school now and don't come back, I won't tell them you were skipping school. Deal?"

Harry nodded, and the man let go of his collar. He hurried off and stood against the wall once he was round the corner, breathing deeply.

The place stank as soon as he had entered it, and despite looking nothing more than an office on the ground floor, he knew that there were rooms of girls upstairs, waiting for punters to have sex with. He'd never been in a brothel before and it creeped him out greatly to think his sister was in there. He knew what they were like; films and television had ensured that.

But something the man had said stuck in his mind. _I should call the cops on you._ What if he was to call the cops on the brothel? Places like that were illegal, surely? Unless he lied again to make sure they'd turn up.

Harry pulled out his phone and called the number for the local police station. He knew it off by heart after months of his mum dialling it all the time.

"Rochdale Police, how can we help you?"

"I know someone that's growing drugs."


	4. Chapter 4

Harry had nothing better to do so he headed on the long walk home alone. He could hear the police sirens in the background, and it was obvious they'd acted on his false tip-off. Now all he had to do was get home before his parents, so they wouldn't know his involvement in it all.

He stopped at a newsagent to pick up a chocolate bar and a drink with the last of his money; his watch was ticking ever closer to lunchtime and he hadn't got any food with him. Several times he got strange looks from people, as if to say, _you should be in school_, but nobody confronted him and he made it home without any trouble.

After making a sandwich, he sat down on the sofa and turned on the television. There wasn't much on, only trashy talk shows, but he watched one for the sake of it while he ate his lunch. He wasn't normally allowed to eat on the sofa, but while there was nobody around to tell him not to, he was going to rebel.

Completely engrossed in the programme, he almost missed the landline ringing, and he jumped up to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Harry? Why aren't you picking up your mobile?"

"Sorry, Mum. It's in my bag, which is in the other room."

"Alright. Now I've had a call from the police, they think they've found Bex. I'm going to the police station straight away, and if it is her, I'll be bringing her home."

"That's great!"

"Don't get your hopes up, though. How's your migraine?"

"Better. I've taken some tablets and had a lie down, and it's not so bad as it was at school."

"Good boy. I'll see you later."

Harry heard the disconnecting tone and sat the phone back in its cradle. His plan had worked, if not slightly awkwardly. He fetched his mobile from his bag and watched the video one more time. He couldn't bring himself to delete it during the assembly; if his hunt for Bex had failed, it was the one thing that proved she was still alive. Now, though, he didn't need it on his phone. His finger hovered over the delete button, but before he could press it, his phone began to vibrate in his hand.

**Jess calling**

What did his sister want now? She should be in class, unless-

"Hey, Jess."

"Piggy. Mum said to call you to remind you to tidy the place up. We're in the car; Dad's meeting us at the police station. We could be a while, if we're not back by five put some dinner on."

"I got sent home ill, you know."

"With a headache. You're such a wuss. Laters, Pigface."

Harry hung up before his sister could insult him any more. That was one thing he could never remember Bex doing; despite their differences, she would never call him names. That was Jess's trait. Bex would simply grab him by the ankles and hold him upside down until he begged to be put down.

Ok, maybe she wasn't as nice as people made out, but that was sibling rivalry at its best. It had been so long since he'd seen his sister, though, that he'd happily be held upside down for a whole day if it meant Bex would be back with them. The saying was true, you don't know what you've got until it's gone, and Harry had missed Bex being around.

He fetched his MP3 player from his bedroom and plugged in his headphones while he tidied the house up. His bedroom was the tidiest in the house; Jess had told him he was OCD, but he just preferred to be organised rather than spend ten minutes sorting through junk just to find a pair of socks in the morning.

Lost in the tidying and his music, he didn't hear the key in the front door, and the first he knew of his family arriving home was Karen pulling out his earphones.

"I see your headache's gone now."

Harry nodded. "I was bored tidying up."

"Well, at least you've made a good job of it. Your sister's back, but be warned, she's not the same as she used to be."

Harry nodded with excitement. It all seemed too good to be true. Bex coming home was the only good thing to come out of moving to Waterloo Road.

"Where is she?"

Karen didn't need to speak. She stepped aside and there, in the doorway next to Jess, was Bex. Her long blonde hair was loose down the back of her neck and she bore a grey tracksuit, which Harry knew was police issue from the amount of time he'd spent down there eighteen months ago.

He took a couple of steps towards her, unsure what to say. "Bex?" He reached out for a hug. Although he wasn't the most tactile of people, he knew he needed to reach out to his sister, and words were failing him.

Bex just stood there, allowing Harry to cling onto her without moving. He looked up at her, a tear rolling down his face. "What have they done to you?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Harry, don't pester your sister. The police said to let her speak in her own time." Charlie walked over and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "I know it's hard, son, but you've just got to let things happen naturally."

Half of Harry wanted to shout at him, _I know what's happened to her, I've been there, and it's because of me she's back. _Instead, he kept quiet and simply nodded. Breaking away from Bex, he ran upstairs and into the bathroom, where he shut and bolted the door before retching into the sink.

Bex was a completely different person to who he remembered. He thought finding her and bringing her home would heal the family, but it seemed there were more problems bubbling on the surface he hadn't anticipated. He loved his sister, but what if he'd made the wrong decision? Was the family ready to deal with it? Because he knew he wasn't. The thought of wanting his sister back in the brothel made him feel sick, though, and he hated himself for it.

He had to find a way of dealing with it. Looking around the bathroom, he knew he couldn't resort to anything like an overdose. That would ruin his family even more. But he needed a coping mechanism. Self-harm was too obvious; his parents would notice. Then his mind went back to how he felt like being sick. It was as though he needed to get rid of all the bad stuff inside him. Yes. That was what he needed. His eyes fell on his toothbrush.

After he'd forced himself to throw up, he washed his face and hands under the water and headed back downstairs, feeling surprisingly a lot better. His family stood in the hallway, looking up the stairs at him.

"Harry, love, would you mind going to the chip shop and getting us some dinner?" Karen held out a twenty pound note. "If that's not enough, you should have enough change left from earlier to cover it."

Harry nodded. "Four cod, one battered sausage for Dad and three large portions of chips."

"You've got it. Good lad." Charlie patted Harry on the back as he bent down to put on his trainers.

He walked slowly to the chip shop. His parents had obviously wanted him out of the house to discuss adult stuff, so he figured he'd give them what they wanted and stay out as long as reasonably possible.

"Hey. Harry, right?" In the queue in the chip shop, Harry turned to see Sam standing behind him, her younger brother Denzil beside her.

"Ye-yeah. Sorry, I don't remember your name. You're in my class, though, aren't you?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I'm Sam. This is my little brother, Denzil. I didn't know you lived around here."

"Yeah, Harper Street." Harry wasn't sure if revealing his home address was a good idea, but there was something about Sam he trusted. He placed his order and stood with her while they waited.

"So how come you're ordering five? I thought there was only four of you."

Harry shook his head. "I've got another sister, but she doesn't go to Waterloo Road." He wasn't about to go into detail, so he let Sam think she was old enough to have left school. Technically, she was, and he doubted Bex was going to put in an appearance in the sixth form any time soon.

Sam looked interested. "Oh yeah?"

Harry nodded. He was saved from further conversation by his food being ready, so he collected it, said a polite goodbye to Sam and Denzil, and headed home.

He liked Sam. Not many kids would have spoken to him outside school, only to tease him, but she seemed genuinely interested in him.

Harry stopped outside his front door to get his key from his pocket. Inside, he could hear shouting.

"What do you mean, you knew? How could you? The police only told us an hour or so ago."

"I found out yesterday. Well, not completely, but I knew she was alive."

"How? Karen, this isn't the time to keep things from me!"

"And this isn't the time to shout. The girls are upstairs, they can hear every word!"

"Well, just tell me, then."

"You were in that bloody assembly, right?"

"The _video_? But how?" There was a pause, and as Harry looked through the window, he could see his dad pacing around the front room, hands on head. "Harry, right?"

Karen nodded.

"Harry!" Charlie screamed. Harry ducked down. He couldn't go back in the house now. His parents were angry, and that was never a good sign. He walked back down the path and round the corner, sinking against the wall.

Just when he'd managed to get everything going right, it was all beginning to go wrong.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry lost track of time sitting against the wall, and it was only when his phone began to wring that he bothered to look at his watch. He'd been out there nearly an hour; no wonder his parents were worried. But it had taken them an hour to notice his absence on a trip that usually took no more than ten minutes.

"Hello?" He answered his phone with an exasperated sigh.

"Harry? Where the hell are you?"

"Chill, Dad. I was just talking to Sam."

"For an _hour_? Your mum's worried sick about you. Get yourself home now, son, and we'll talk about this."

_We'll talk about this. _Which generally meant his parents would talk, then shout at him, and he wouldn't get a chance to put forward his side of the argument.

But his parents had been through enough hurt over Bex's disappearance as it was. He didn't feel like returning, but he knew how it felt to have someone you love missing. He couldn't do that to them a second time, not so soon after finally getting the family back together.

Gripping the plastic bag of food so tight that it almost cut into his hand, he headed home.

"Harry!" Karen almost shouted as he unlocked the door. "Where have you been? Why didn't you call to say you were staying out? We've been worried about you."

_You've only just stopped arguing to realise I was gone._

Harry bit his lip. "I bumped into Sam, and we got talking..." Words turned into a mumble, knowing that whatever he said, he was going to get an earful. "Sorry." His face reddening, he held out the bag of food. "Shall I go and put them in the microwave?"

"I think you'd better."

Harry walked through to the kitchen, taking a glance upstairs to see Jess sitting on the top step. No doubt she was revelling in his scolding. He wasn't sure where Bex was, though, and right now he wasn't all that bothered. At least she was home.

He put the food in the microwave and set it for two minutes. As it warmed up, Karen walked into the room and gave him a hug.

"Thanks for showing me that clip. While you were out, me and your dad were having an argument, and he knows about it. We've decided not to tell Bex, though; we don't want her any more traumatised than she already is."

"Am I in trouble?"

Karen shook her head. "Quite the opposite. That place your sister was in, it was horrible the way they treated her, and you helped rescue her."

Harry nodded. Little did she know how great his role was in it.

The microwave beeped, and Harry opened the door to take out the food. He put them onto plates as Karen called the others down for dinner.

The fifth chair at the table was filled for the first time in eighteen months, and despite Harry's efforts with the dinner, it was hardly eaten. Bex didn't say much, and the meal was basically spent trying to pretend everything was normal again, though Harry was relieved when it was over.

"I've got homework to do," he lied, and headed up to his room.

He shut his door and flopped backwards onto his bed. He knew exactly what had happened to Bex, so why was everyone trying to avoid talking to him? He felt like a little kid, not the fourteen year old he was. Jess was only two years older, yet she seemed to know everything that had been going on. It just didn't seem fair.

Harry turned on his stereo and blared Muse out at top volume while he sat, cross-legged on his bed, working out his maths homework. He was good at maths, it was one of his better subjects, though it made him an easy target for the bullies. He'd learnt to keep his head down and not show off about his continuous A grades.

His bedroom door opened and Harry half expected his parents to start shouting at him for the loud music.

"Ok, ok, I'll turn it down."

"Don't worry about it."

"Bex?" Harry rolled over and turned it down as he stood up. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to talk to you." Her voice broken, she sounded terrified about something, and Harry was concerned.

"Uh, sure." He brushed his books aside and made room for Bex to sit alongside him on the bed. "What's up?"

Bex ran a hand through her tangled hair. She was no longer in the grey tracksuit, but in jeans and a baggy t-shirt. Harry remembered when she'd first bought the t-shirt. It had accentuated her features. Now it drowned her.

"I need to tell you something. You can't tell anyone, though. Promise me."

Harry nodded, unconvinced. "Uh, ok."

"Promise me."

"I promise, ok?"

Bex leaned closer to Harry, her voice scarcely a whisper. "Where I was, there were men coming to visit all the time. One day, I saw Dad there. He saw me; we made eye contact. It was over a year ago. He left me in there over a year, knowing what was happening."

Harry swore under his breath. "Bex, I'm so sorry." He reached an arm around her and pulled her close for a hug. He remembered back when he was younger, Bex was the one reassuring him after a bad dream or something. Now it seemed the role had reversed, but Harry hated it. He wanted the old Bex back; the Bex that would tease him mercilessly over the fact that a girl had called for him, the Bex that would threaten to draw moustaches on his posters if he didn't cover for her and let her in the window in the morning. Not the Bex that confided in him that their father used prostitutes.

Bex forced a smile. "It's not your fault. But you can't tell anyone. It'd kill Mum if she knew."

Harry nodded. "I promised, didn't I?" He took a deep breath. "If there's ever anything else you want to talk about, about, you know, what happened, you can talk to me. I know we weren't that close but I really did miss you. It was horrible, you not being here. Mum turned paranoid me and Jess were going to disappear as well; that's why she made us change schools. Dad's hardly ever home, and Jess is out getting drunk when she's not out with some bloke. I hated it." Tears were flowing freely from his face, dampening Bex's sleeve where he had rested his head. She was crying too, emotion that had been bottling up inside finally flooding out.

"Thanks," Bex finally replied, squeezing his arm, and Harry was certain of the sincerity in the word.


	7. Chapter 7

Harry didn't have the heart to tell his sister to leave his room, so his homework remained unfinished until Karen walked in at ten to tell him to start getting ready for bed. Seeing Bex and Harry sitting together on the bed, arms wrapped round each other, a tear rolled gently down her cheek. It had been so long since she'd seen a sight like that.

"Harry, love, it's gone ten."

Harry nodded and stood up. "Are you going to be alright?" he asked Bex, who replied with a nod. He folded up his books and headed into the bathroom, where he turned on the tap and washed his face.

It couldn't be true, could it? Not only had his dad slept with a prostitute, he had covered it up and lost the chance to rescue Bex a year earlier. The very thought made him physically sick, and he threw up into the toilet.

Harry returned back to his bedroom to find Bex had gone and Karen was in place on his bed instead.

"Sit down, darling," Karen smiled, patting the bed beside her. Harry tentatively joined her. He wanted her to go; he'd still got maths to finish but he wasn't going to admit it. The sooner she was gone, the sooner he could avoid getting a detention for not finishing it.

"Mum-"

"For some reason, Bex seems to be confiding in you over the rest of us. I don't know why that is, but what I want to reassure you is that if she says anything that worries you, you can come and talk to any one of us. Or you can talk to Mr Mead or Mr Clarkson at school if you like, he's your form tutor, and I promise I won't ask them what you said. It's all in confidence."

Harry nodded. "Thanks, Mum, but I promised Bex-"

"A promise is a promise, but I don't want you being troubled by things." Karen stood up and patted him on the arm. "Just remember the offer's there, yeah?"

Harry nodded. "Thanks."

"Right, I'd better let you get ready for bed. Night, Harry."

"Night, Mum."

Karen left the room and closed the door behind her. She leant against it, almost sinking to the floor. Bex had gone into her own room, and as much as Karen couldn't believe it, she had her whole family back together again. She had dreamed of this moment for the past eighteen months, and now it was true. Maybe Bex returning would heal the wounds that had opened up since she'd left.

Nobody in the Fisher household slept well that night. Harry's homework was completed by eleven, by which time he was too awake to try and get to sleep. He tossed and turned for ages, trying to doze off. Charlie and Karen stayed up in separate rooms, neither wanting to give in and go to bed before the other. Jess was too busy texting her best friend Vicky to even think about sleeping. Bex was the only one who managed to sleep, but it was plagued by nightmares.

"_You're my little slut, aren't you?" _

_Forty years old, according to his passport on the side, but he looked as though he was double that. Bex often had businessmen visit her when they were in the area, and by the accent, this one was American and no doubt had a wife and kids back home. Most of them did._

_He took Bex's face in his hand and kissed her on the lips. "Oh, you are beautiful. So tell me, what's a slut like you doing in a place like this?"_

_How could she respond to a stranger? She was there because she'd left home to be with her boyfriend, and had ended up becoming roped into the 'family business.' The brothel was run by Neil's parents, with his mother dealing first-hand with the prostitutes and his father and brothers running the security and cover-up. Most of the girls were foreign, with only Bex and a couple of others actually able to speak fluent English. She'd not had many conversations, but what she knew was enough. They had all been girlfriends of the brothers at one point or another, and had been taken away from their families to sleep with other men._

_Instead, she replied wittily. "Being a slut. It's what I do."_


	8. Chapter 8

Nobody wanted to go to school the following morning. Everybody apart from Bex was due at Waterloo Road at half past eight, and at twenty past, they were all still at home. Harry pretended his migraine had returned, while Jess was still in the bathroom applying five inches more of make-up. Karen and Charlie were in the kitchen, arguing over who should stay at home to look after their eldest daughter, as neither wanted to leave her on her own for the day.

Eventually Bex, who was lying on the sofa watching one of the children's channels, came into the room to sort out the argument.

"I'll go to school with you."

"What?" Karen and Charlie turned to her simultaneously.

"I mean it. I'll help out in the office or something. It'll stop you arguing and worrying, won't it?"

Karen nodded. "If you're sure, love. I mean, I'll take the day off, it's not a problem, and Chris is capable of running the place without me."

Bex shook her head. "I'll come with you."

The Fishers all piled into the car and made it to Waterloo Road just before the bell. While Harry and Jess headed off to their respective classes, Karen and Charlie ended up in the staffroom with Bex.

Most of the staff were taking their registers, and it was only Chris that sat in the staff room, cup of coffee in hand. He stood up as Karen walked in.

"I've done the briefing, as I wasn't sure if you were going to turn up today."

"Thanks, Chris." Normally Karen would have hit back with a snarky response, but she wasn't in the mood. "This is my daughter, Bex. She'll be helping us out today."

"Bex." Chris held out a hand, and Bex looked at him awkwardly.

"Go on love, shake it," Karen whispered, and Bex did.

"I'm Chris Mead, deputy head. Nice to meet you." He smiled, trying to reassure the shy youngster. Bex stood, staring at a newspaper on the table. The headline jumped out at her.

_Girls rescued from hell hole_

_15 women have been rescued from a life of forced prostitution after an anonymous tip-off that a house in Rochdale was growing drugs. When police arrived, they found the family-ran brothel was holding fifteen women, ten of them immigrants, against their will and being forced into working as prostitutes in order to survive. _

Karen followed her daughter's gaze and saw what had caught her attention. She bent down and picked it up before folding it up and throwing it into the bin.

"You don't need to worry about what that says. Come on, I'll show you around."

Bex stood still, shaking. "Tha- that was me."

"Bex?" Chris reached out an arm to touch her. The girl was obviously traumatised, and he hated seeing anyone so broken.

Karen stood next to Charlie, clinging tightly to his sleeve. "Do something."

Charlie looked from his wife, who was fighting back tears with a face of defiance, to his daughter, who was trembling and sweating, and took a step forward.

"Bex." He put an arm around her, which she rebuffed. "Come here, love. It's ok."

"No."

"I'm sorry?"

"Bex, listen to your dad, yeah?" Chris rubbed her arm soothingly. "He knows best."

"No," Bex repeated. "He left me there." Tears flowing freely down her face, she collapsed onto the floor and curled herself up into a ball, rocking and sobbing.

Chris crouched down and pulled her close against his chest. "Shh," he soothed. "Whatever's happened, you're safe now." He looked up at Karen, who had let go of Charlie and was staring at him.

"What's she on about?"

"Karen, I-"

"Tell me!" Karen's voice was raised, almost shouting at her husband. "Talk to me, Charlie! I know you find that so bloody difficult but please, just talk to me!" She threw herself at him, tugging at his shirt. "What the hell does she mean?"

Charlie shook his head. "I'm sorry, I-"

Bex looked up from Chris' chest. "Tell her! You came and saw me there. Then you went home and left me behind!"

Karen stared at Charlie. "Is this true? You knew she was there all along and you didn't tell me?"

Charlie's lack of response told Karen all she needed to know. She slapped him round the cheek. "Get out! I'll call the agency and tell them you're not working here anymore. Go home and pack your stuff, and by the time I get home I don't want to see you ever again!"

Charlie walked out of the staffroom, leaving Karen standing there, sobbing. She sat down on the floor, wrapping her arms around Bex and hugging her tightly. Chris extended his hug to include Karen and the three sat there on the floor, the two women sobbing and the man consoling, until neither mother nor daughter felt they had any more tears left to cry.


	9. Chapter 9

"Karen." It was Chris who spoke first, breaking the silence that had filled the staff room. "It's nearly time for the assembly. Do you want me to take it?"

Karen nodded. She stood up, using the arm of the sofa for support. All she wanted was to wake up from this nightmare. Bex was home, but the family was destroyed. How could she explain to Jess and Harry that their father wasn't coming home? They'd spent a year and a half without their sister, and it was going to seem as though one family member's absence was replaced by another. She couldn't tell them the truth; they wouldn't understand, especially Harry.

But what was worse? Letting them believe a lie, or being honest that she'd kicked him out? She had all day to ponder it.

"We'll be in my office if you need me." Karen helped Bex up and then turned to Chris. "Thanks for everything."

"Alright." They walked out of the staff room together, Chris taking the staircase down to the hall while Karen and Bex continued on to the office. Janeece was sitting at the computer, and she looked up.

"Morning, Mrs Fisher. I was beginning to think you weren't coming in today. Is everything alright after yesterday?"

Karen nodded. "I don't want any disturbance today unless it's an absolute emergency, ok?"

"Yes, Mrs Fisher. Here, who's your visitor?"

"This is Bex, my daughter."

"Oh yeah? Didn't know you had another daughter. Well, nice to meet you, Bex. I'm Janeece; if there's anything you need round here, just let me know, yeah?"

"We'll be fine thanks, Janeece." Karen opened her door and entered her office, closely followed by Bex.

After shutting both the door and the window shutter, Karen sat down on the sofa with her head in her hands. She hadn't imagined coming back to work would be this hard. Domestic issues had a habit of getting in the way of things.

She looked up to see Bex still standing by the door. "Come and sit down, love."

Bex walked over and took a seat next to Karen. "Mum, I'm sorry."

"What for? It's your dad who's at fault here, not you. You're not to blame for any of this."

"I was an idiot. If I hadn't run off that day, none of this would have happened."

"Don't think like that. What happened can't be undone; we have to move on. All of us." Karen put an arm around Bex and hugged her tightly.

The moment was interrupted by a loud banging on the office door. Karen stood up as it was pushed open, banging against the cabinet. "Janeece, I-"

"Mrs Fisher! You've got to come quickly!"

"Denzil? What's up?"

"It's Mr Fisher, Miss. He's gone crazy. He went into the assembly and grabbed Harry, and he's got a knife."


	10. Chapter 10

Karen screamed. "Charlie!" Leaving Bex and Denzil behind, she raced towards the hall, where panic was setting in among the assembled students.

Making her way through the aisle and onto the stage, she stamped her foot on the wooden floor. "All of you, just shut up!"

Silence.

"Ah, good of you to make an appearance." Charlie was on the far side of the stage, one arm around Harry's neck and the other hand gripping a knife. "I was wondering how long it would take you."

"Charlie, let him go."

"Not bloody likely. You can't do this to me, Karen. You don't understand what happened."

"You slept with a bloody prostitute! You left our daughter in that whore house for a year and didn't do anything about it. You let me believe she might be dead when you knew she wasn't!"

There was a series of gasps from the students. At the front, Jess was desperately trying to make eye contact with her brother. She'd pushed her way to the front and almost onto the stage before Chris grabbed hold of her. The last thing he'd wanted was two of Karen's kids getting hurt.

Harry, the unwilling centre of attention, was trembling on stage. He didn't want to die, not in front of his classmates and definitely not in front of his mum. But his dad's madness was not something he wanted to leave to chance; the possibility of him actually carrying out his threat was too high for Harry to risk making the wrong move.

"It wasn't like that!"

"No? Then tell me what it was like."

"We weren't talking. It was on Alan's stag do, anyway, and we'd had a few to drink."

"Oh, and that makes it alright, does it?"

"I didn't know it was her. Jeff was coming out of the room; I walked past and looked in. I didn't know it was Bex, I promise!"

"Dad!"

The crowd turned to see Bex standing at the back of the hall. She raced towards the front, bypassing the teachers who had given up trying to get all the children out and instead now just wanted to prevent them from getting on the stage, and clambered up.

"Dad, please. Let Harry go. He hasn't done anything wrong."

"Your mum needs to know how it feels to lose her family, too. She's chucked me out. I'm not going to be the only one losing out." Charlie moved his knife closer to Harry's neck.

"No!" Bex raced forward and pushed Harry out of the way. He fell to the floor, and Bex collapsed seconds after.

Karen surged forward. Charlie no longer had the knife in his hand, which meant-

"Bex!" Karen could see the blood pouring out of her chest. "Bex, talk to me, baby. Somebody help me, my daughter's been stabbed!"

Tom jumped onto the stage and pressed his suit jacket against Bex's wound. Karen cradled her in her arms, sobbing into her hair. Harry sat up, too stunned to move until Jess too climbed onto the stage, and he grabbed onto her, clinging tightly.

"Is she going to die?"

Jess didn't reply, only hold Harry tighter. She'd thought she was going to lose her brother, but now it was her sister rapidly losing blood instead. A couple of the other male teachers had got Charlie in an arm lock, holding him until the police arrived. An ambulance was on its way, too, but by the time they arrived, it was too late. The paramedic checked for Bex's pulse, but there wasn't one. He shook his head at his colleague.

Karen threw her head back and screamed. "No!"


	11. Chapter 11

Waterloo Road closed early that day, with all the students taking a letter home detailing the day's dramatic events. Chris had dictated it to Janeece in between consoling the traumatised Fisher children and their mother and dealing with both police and press inquiries.

Karen refused to leave the stage, still clinging to Bex's lifeless body for hours until the police finally had to physically prise her away. Jess and Harry, too, had sat on the wooden floor next to their sister, watching as the pool of blood dried and stained the floorboards. Neither knew what do or say, so just sat, watching and weeping.

Guilt seemed to be the order of the day. Karen blamed herself for the earlier argument that had tipped Charlie over the edge, and for agreeing to let Bex come to Waterloo Road. Jess blamed herself for not speaking up to protect Harry earlier, and leaving it to Bex's intervention. Harry blamed himself for getting Bex into this mess. He'd saved her from a life in the brothel, but she had barely had a chance to live before she'd stepped in to save his. He should have been the one who had died.

Once everything was dealt with at the school, Chris was eventually able to drive them home. He took charge, ensuring they all ate, drank and got some sleep that night. He spent it on their sofa, wide awake but unwilling to leave them. As Karen's screams echoed through the house, he knew nothing he said or did would be able to console them, but he could at least be a body of support.

The routine continued for several weeks, with Chris visiting both morning and evening to check on the bereaved family. School stayed closed until the following Monday, when counsellors were provided for staff and students alike, and it was a fortnight until normal lessons resumed. Harry and Jess remained at home, neither feeling up to visiting the place where their sister had been killed, so Chris provided them with work when he came to visit.

Harry threw himself into his schoolwork, making a vow to live every moment like it was going to be his last and do the best he could to make Bex proud. She'd died to save him, and he wasn't about to let her death be a waste. He struggled with eating at first, throwing up constantly after every meal, but sessions with the counsellor helped him overcome his problems and anxiety.

Karen first turned to the bottle, then Chris. He provided her with a shoulder to cry on, an ear that would listen, and eventually, enough support to encourage her to return to Waterloo Road. She remained as the head teacher, only taking time off to attend Charlie's court date and see him found guilty of murdering Bex.

Jess was the last to return to school. She spent her free time raising funds to construct a memorial for Bex, setting up a charity in her memory. Things weren't going to be the same ever again, but she would never forget her elder sister. She had the memories of their childhood, the photos and the clothes, and if she ever couldn't remember what she sounded like, she would call up her number and listen to her voicemail message. She'd spent so long without her sister, and it seemed cruel she'd been snatched permanently when they'd only just got her back. But Jess knew she could move on. She had to.

"_It's time to go, Rebecca."_

"_Don't want to."_

"_Don't be silly. You want to see your baby brother, don't you?"_

"_No."_

_She'd been told her baby brother was poorly, and needed an incubator to help him breathe. But when four year old Rebecca first laid eyes on baby Harry, she knew one thing. She loved him, and she would do anything so he could live._

_Anything._


End file.
